WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced today that the final Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) is now available. The Notice of Availability for the final SPEIS was published in the Federal Register.

"We need to move NNSA from an outdated, Cold War nuclear weapons complex to one that is better able to support our future national security needs," said NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino.

In December 2007, D'Agostino announced the draft SPEIS and NNSA issued it on January 11, 2008. Since then, thousands of citizens attended more than 80 hours of public hearings and provided more than 600 oral comments regarding the proposed transformation plan. During the public comment period NNSA held 20 public hearings over a 36-day span at NNSA sites and other locations. In total, NNSA received over 100,000 comments.

The SPEIS evaluates NNSA's proposal for continuing the transformation of the nuclear weapons complex, along with a range of reasonable alternatives. NNSA's objective is to create a nuclear weapons infrastructure that is smaller, safer, more secure, and less expensive.

The proposal would support President Bush's plan for the smallest stockpile consistent with U.S. national security needs. The U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile has been reduced by nearly 50 percent from its size in 2001, making it the smallest stockpile since the Eisenhower Administration. Further cuts to the stockpile have been ordered by President Bush, which would reduce the stockpile another 15 percent.

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a separately organized agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad.